Jol Wilkinson Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 And out of 56 in our Club, only myself and Peter BB are aware of R M Web, which is a shame, but the rest seem to have no interest in Internet forums or chat rooms, let alone searching for data. Andrew, the majority of modellers I know don't "use" RMweb. Several use other Forums, usually related to a specific model railway or prototype Society. They are usually less interested in RTR or OO than probably most RMweb members and find that the other forums are more appropriate to their needs. Those other forums of which I am a member have little or nothing in the way of general chat, frothing about new products, wish lists, etc. but are focused on information sharing, modelling techniques, etc. They are always my first port of call when I am looking for information. Jol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 11, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2018 Mike - Staplegrove, Taunton, April 29th - consider yourself told Someone else has already reminded me by PM thanks Stu (as I shall be involved in certain arranging for the Saturday again) however I sincerely hope I can remember the date once I get off the ship a few days previously. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesthecat Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) Just for a different perspective I subscribe to model rail and rarely look at the exhibition diary. If I am interested in an exhibition I will either look on the pages here or google the Club involved with the exhibition. While I note the comments on the thread about those who don't access the Internet did the researcher also ask if BRM was the only magazine they bought. If it was then fair enough but I wonder if that is the case. Mark Edited January 11, 2018 by reevesthecat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted January 11, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 11, 2018 Another different perspective, I've not been a member of a railway club for a good 15 years and I think my last magazine subscription ended around 5 years ago. When I moved to 7mm I joined the Gauge O Guild for a year but didn't renew. Just about all the modellers I collaborate with on projects aren't members of a model railway club either. We're all members of RMweb and various other forums. Whilst club attendance is often said to be be falling off, I do wonder sometimes if the number of lone modellers being in virtual web-based groups is increasing? I've certainly noticed an increase in the folk I know falling away from attending formal model railway clubs. How we are able to get information, learn and interact is changing and I think companies such as Warners are right to review what they do in what media platforms. For me having expo listings on a mag is of very little interest, particularly as I only buy around 4 mags a year. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Steve and I have just had a very interesting conversation looking at the data from the digital version which tells us how long users spend on individual pages; in the context of this debate we looked at how long users spent on diary pages. Before the changes the diary page was read by fewer viewers and for less time than average (substantially so) whereas since the changes the page is read by a similar number of viewers to the average for longer than they were before the changes on average. Loads of interesting nuggets came out of it when we analysed 'reading' pages rather than 'looking' pages over a wide range of issues over the last 3 years. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
truffy Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Whilst club attendance is often said to be be falling off, I do wonder sometimes if the number of lone modellers being in virtual web-based groups is increasing? I've certainly noticed an increase in the folk I know falling away from attending formal model railway clubs. How we are able to get information, learn and interact is changing and I think companies such as Warners are right to review what they do in what media platforms. For me, membership of a local club is a no-no, and virtual membership is more enticing. I no longer subscribe to anything (although that could change), and limit my reading to a few mags that I pick up on my twice annual sojourns to Blighty. For me, therefore, diary entries are less compelling than using internet-search-engine-of-choice before I travel. But that's a minority preference, of course. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I don’t think I have ever bought a magazine to discover what exhibitions might be on in any particular month, even in the dark and distant past before the general public web arrived. I appreciate that even today there are many who form the backbone of railway modelling activities - i.e. are of a certain age (of which I am one ) - who do not use the web to any great extent, and maybe not at all, but when you consider that for many local shows the majority of the visiting public will be local in nature and most probably aware of the show by means other than an advert in a modelling magazine ( flyers, posters, word of mouth, etc), it raises the question of how many ‘ extra ‘ visitors adverts in mags produce. To my mind two extra pages of editorial content is more likely to raise sales and spark modelling interest than lists of exhibitions the reader has no desire/interest/ability to visit. Izzy Interesting point. I visit exhibitions regularly and have found the diaries useful. On some occasions the exhibition diaries have informed me of shows that are on that I did not previously know about. One such example was last summer. Through an exhibition diary advert I found out about a small show in Brixham on the day I was due to arrive there on holiday. This was not advertised on RMWeb. Without that entry in the diary the exhibition would have missed three paying customers. As an exhibition manager of a small show for the last six years, I have made use of RMWeb to publicise the event through calendar pages and a thread. This is supported by enteries in many free exhibition diaries. Each year I receive at least ten telephone enquiries from prospective visitors in the run up to the event. Not one person was calling after seeing the post online. Every single person was responding to a show guide advert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neil Posted January 13, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2018 It strikes me that most of the discussion here has been of a hypothetical nature. The only real indicators of the wisdom of BRM's decision will be sales figures of the magazine and visitor numbers to exhibitions. Even these statistics are subject to other forces and ones which would seem to me to be of far more importance than paid for diary entries in a magazine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted January 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2018 The acid test in all of this for BRM/Warners is whether the changes does actually lead to more editorial content in the magazine, and not more adverts. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 14, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 14, 2018 The acid test in all of this for BRM/Warners is whether the changes does actually lead to more editorial content in the magazine, and not more adverts. And whether or not sales are 'damaged' by the reduction in diary entries (where we've already been given the answer). So basically that looks like time to close the 'debate' as all seems to have been said and done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Thanks Mike; yes, it's only to get circular from this point forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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